Ted Kennedy Hub

A DNC video tribute to the late Senator Ted Kennedy broadcast on Tuesday night showcased Kennedy's broad range of progressive positions (including his support for LGBT rights) and carried as its centerpiece a debate in which Kennedy destroyed Romney during his unsuccessful run for Senate in 1994.

Said Kennedy in the debate: "I am pro-choice. Mitt Romney is multiple choice."

Longtime lesbian
politico Midge Costanza dies.
As aide to President Jimmy Carter, Costanza handled the first White
House meeting with gay leaders. The AP de-gays
her obituary. Karen Ocamb has
a personal recollection.

UK Christians doing all they can to stop same-sex marriage ceremonies from taking place in churches: "They are worried that new laws, part of the Equality Bill, will mean clergy could be be prosecuted if they refuse to carry out the ceremonies.
Currently gay partnerships cannot be registered in places of worship.
The government has said the ceremonies are voluntary and no-one will be prosecuted for refusing to hold them.
However, critics say that the change is another attempt by gay campaigners to elevate civil partnerships to the same status as marriage."

Alligator found swimming with whales 20 miles out to sea: "Unfortunately, the fate of this mysterious ocean alligator is unknown, since researchers left the scene shortly after snapping a few photographs. 'Considering that we were in an inflatable boat 20 miles offshore, we didn’t want to risk having the gator inadvertently puncture the boat,' said Foley."

PFLAG to honor Liza Minnelli: "Pflag National, a group for parents, families, and supporters of gay people, is naming Liza Minnelli the second recipient of its Straight for Equality in Entertainment Award, which recognizes an ally of gay rights who is not herself gay."

Bristol, UK to hold first Gay Pride festival: "There are about 40,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who live and work in Bristol, making it one of the largest urban 'LGBT' populations in the UK.
Beginning on August 14, a diverse range of events has been lined up across the city including a film festival, club nights, talks, shows and community events.
The highlight of Pride Bristol 2010 is Pride Day on Saturday, August 21, when a large free festival will be held in Castle Park in the heart of Bristol."

The Boston Globe reports: "The victory caps a dramatic surge in recent days as Brown, a state
lawmaker from Wrentham once thought to have little chance of beating a
popular attorney general, roared ahead of Coakley to become the first
Republican senator elected from Massachusetts since 1972. With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Brown had 52 percent and Coakley had 47 percent. In a race that became the center of national attention, Brown's win is
widely seen as a vote against the president's agenda from one of the
most reliably Democratic states. And in a particularly ironic twist,
Brown, in succeeding Edward M. Kennedy -- the late liberal lion who
deemed health care "the cause of my life" -- may well be the 41st vote
to prevent the Democratic-led plan from moving forward."

Former DNC Chairman Paul Kirk will fill Ted Kennedy's vacant U.S. Senate seat until a special election is held in January, the Boston Globe reports:

"Governor Deval Patrick has selected Paul G. Kirk Jr. to serve as
interim US senator, a choice that comes with the strong backing of the
immediate family of the late Edward M. Kennedy, according to a person
with knowledge of the selection process. Patrick has remained mum about his selection, but is scheduled to
announce the appointment at a press conference this morning today at
the State House. Kirk, 71, is a longtime Kennedy friend and former staff member, a
man so close to the family he was chosen as master of ceremonies at
Kennedy’s memorial service the night before the funeral last month. An
attorney who now lives on Cape Cod, Kirk worked as a special assistant
to Senator Kennedy from 1969 to 1977, and is currently the chairman of
the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. He is familiar with many on
Kennedy’s former staff and could help smooth the transition. Kirk was registered as a lobbyist a decade ago. He was paid $35,000
to represent the pharmaceutical company Hoechst Marion Roussel on
legislation before the US Senate in 1999, according to federal
disclosure records. He is currently on the board of directors of the
Hartford Insurance Group."

The special election is set for January 19.

"The interim senator could be sworn in within days after the secretary
of the US Senate receives a certification of appointment from the
governor, according to Beth Provenzano, a spokeswoman for the
secretary’s office. The new senator could begin assembling a staff
almost immediately, she said."

There's a passage in Ted Kennedy's new memoir True Compass
in which he talks about attending a meeting in the White House regarding gays in the military. Here it is:

“I’ll never forget one of my first meetings with Clinton in the White
House. He had walked into a firestorm over the question of whether gays
should be allowed to serve in the military. He’d invited all the
Democratic members of the Armed Services Committee to this gathering.
He went around the room, asking everyone’s opinion about gays in the
military. Some senators gave long answers. Some were terse. Some were
flowery and revealing, and others held their cards close to their vest.
It added up to a very lengthy meeting. I remember it well partly
because Vicki and I had tickets to the ballet that night. Baryshnikov
was dancing at the Warner Theatre. I’d told Vicki to go ahead and that
I’d meet her there when I could. But the meeting went on and on, for
more than two hours – extraordinary by White House standards. Finally,
my turn to speak came. I made a brief comment in support of allowing
gays in the military, in which I mentioned that all the arguments
against such a policy had already been made…

...Well, I was wrong about
that. Almost all the arguments had been used before. The last senator
to speak was Robert Byrd, and he came up with a new one on all of
us…..He informed us, with many ornate flourishes, that there had been a
terrible problem in ancient Rome with young military boys turned into
sex slaves. I don’t remember the exact details, but I think the story
involved Tiberius Julius Caesar being captured and abused and used as a
sex slave. He escaped and then years later he sought vengeance and
killed his captors. Anyway, it was something like that. The room fell
silent. The senator continued. Then President Clinton stood up. His
response was short and sweet. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘Moses went up to the
mountain, and he came back with the tablets and there were ten
commandments on those tablets. I’ve read those commandments. I know
what they say, just like I know you do. And nowhere in those ten
commandments will you find anything about homosexuality. Thank y’all
for coming.’ He ended the meeting and walked out of the room.”